Category / Free Music Downloads
Objects in Space (edit)
While putting the finishing touches on Moments, I’ve been working on some themed generative music that will become my next album. The album is all about astronomy. One of the things I love about astronomy is the humbling notion of being a fragile, non-important object floating around amidst many other inconspicuous objects. I kind of puts you in your place. It shows you that there is nothing incredibly special about your place in the universe and that it’s up to you to make your life special. I’m reminded by something Carl Sagan said in The Pale Blue Dot:
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
I’ve been very influenced by Brian Eno’s 77 Million Paintings and taking that approach into my music writing. I’m trying to write a lot of music that isn’t necessarily constrained by time. There’s no defined opening bit or middle bit or ending bit. I want to approach the songs as if they’ve always been playing and I’m just now tuning in. The songs never end. You just sort of tune in from time to time and listen to what they’re doing at that particular moment. I’m very interested in that.
This particular piece is a 4 minute edit of the 12 minute album version of a song for my next album Background Music 2 (Music for Stargazing).
Missing Someone
When you really miss someone it feels like their essence is blanketing you. Pounding on you from all sides so thick and heavy that you can almost reach out and touch them. but no matter how far you reach, you’re still right there… missing someone.
Carl Sagan Saw The Stars
He asked what they were and they said, “They’re lights in the sky, kid.” But that wasn’t what he wanted to know. Carl Sagan saw the stars. He found out what they were and then he showed them to me. And my life was never the same again.
Oldie: She Wept Among Women
This is an old song I wrote in early 2000 for the album 367. I wanted to open the album with this song because I thought it really encompassed the idea of the album as a whole; Getting away from everything. Of course, there are always consequences that come with getting what you want.
Trying To Remember Something
I’m getting very close. I can feel it. More importantly, I can hear it. I just can’t remember it.
Nothing Hurts Like…
I have a big soft spot for disappointment. I remember growing up we didn’t have lots of money so we sometimes had to settle for generic products or off-brand versions of the expensive toys and gadgets. The disappointment could be harsh, but it taught me a valuable lesson. When and when not to show that disappointment. I could never express dismay at a newly unwrapped Christmas present right there in front of my parents. So I learned to hold back in order to spare my parents their own form of disappointment: A disappointed child.
My memories are full of realizations of unfairness. My mother exclaiming, “That’s crummy!” in an eager attempt to make me feel better. And now, as an adult, I look at others and wonder what their disappointments might be. What dreams of theirs have not come to pass as so hoped for.
So where’s this all going and why? Well, recently someone disappointed me. Wrote a song about it. Sharing it with you.
Staring Out A Window. Riding In A Car.
When I think back to being a kid, one of the memories that always jumps out at me is resting my head on the window in my parent’s car on a long trip, perhaps on the interstate, and just experiencing everything that passed my eyes and ears.
I wanted to write a song to expressed that experience vividly. Something that made true to the variety of thoughts, events, scenes, sounds and everything else that comes and goes while you gaze out the window of a moving vehicle.
